Tea for Two
by sentbyfools
Summary: The first time Hatter asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, Alice laughed. Set after the Alice: Part 2. References to Alice: Part 1


**Title: ** Tea for Two

**Author: **uskohakuchan

**Pairing: **Hatter/Alice

**Rating: **PG-13 (just to be safe)

**Length: ** 845

**Warnings/Spoilers: **The whole miniseries. But not really. References to Alice: part 1.

**Summary: **_The first time Hatter asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, Alice had laughed._

**Author's Note: **This is my first Alice/Hatter fic. It was originally posted on livejournal but I decided to bring it over here as well. I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

The first time Hatter asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, Alice had laughed.

Well, no, that wasn't quite right. Actually, the _first_ time Hatter had asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, she'd stared at him with wide eyes and replied with a drawn out, "No, thank-you," which, given the circumstances at the time: she'd been wet, cold, and totally freaked out, had been a miracle in and of itself. The miracle being, of course, that she had replied politely instead of going with her baser instincts and punching him in the face. _No,_ she did not want tea. All she wanted was to find her boyfriend and go home; tea was not really in the cards.

The _first_ time, in her world, Hatter asked her if she wanted a cup of tea, Alice had laughed.

She'd thought it was cute at the time, like he was trying to remind her of their first meeting.

Laughing, Alice had put down her book and leaned up to kiss his smiling face. "No, thank-you," she'd replied mock-seriously, before bursting into happy giggles. He'd gone back into the kitchen, muttering not-so-quietly about "woman with no taste in drinks."

She had the same reaction the second, the third, and the fourth time he'd asked her.

By the twenty-third time, though, the question had started to lose its fun.

And by the forty-seventh time, she'd had enough.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he'd asked as soon as she opened the door. It was late, she'd had to take over two classes for Tim, and frankly, she just wanted a warm bath and a long nap.

But there Hatter was, grinning widely, tea tray in hand. She stared at him before dropping her duffel to the floor and locking the door. She slowly counted to ten in her head.

When she turned back around, Hatter was _still_ standing there, grin _still_ in place, tray _still_ in hand.

On the forty-eighth time, Alice snapped.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"No, I don't want a cup of tea. What would make you think I would want a cup of tea at this time of night?" she snapped. She watched Hatter's face fall but couldn't stop the words from pouring out of her mouth.

"I don't even _like_ tea. When do I _ever_ drink it? I like coffee. Tea is a bitter, tasteless drink that I'm more likely to water my plants with than drink, and I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop trying to force it down my throat."

She was panting by the time she'd finished and she felt ten times worse now than she did before.

Without a word, Hatter walked into the kitchen. She followed him, trying to think of something to say.

"Hatter," she started, but he cut her off.

"Its okay, Alice," he said, pouring the tea down the sink and placing the tea cups in the dishwasher, "You're probably tired. I'll just sleep in the other room tonight, then?"

Before she could muster up a response, he was gone, leaving her alone in the kitchen.

It was a long sleepless night for Alice.

In the morning, Alice walked out of her room tepidly. The guest room door was closed and when she raised her hand to knock, she faltered. Hatter had no reason to forgive her. He was the first guy who had bothered to stick around in her life, the only guy that had _really_ mattered, and she'd driven him away over a cup of tea. She was seriously messed in the head; she was beginning to think that she was better suited to Wonderland than her own world. At least there, she'd be considered relatively sane.

Walking towards the kitchen, she stopped in the doorway. Hatter was sitting at the table. His expression was hard to read and as she took a deep breath and prepared to walk inside, he stood up quickly and picked up a steaming mug off the table.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

He gave her a small smile, and Alice fought back tears.

She walked towards him. "Hatter, I'm sorry."

He placed the mug on the table and closed the gap between them. "It's alright, Alice. Its fine," he said, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tightly. When she finally pulled away to wipe at her eyes, she noticed that he was grinning at her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"It's nothing. Only, next time, you might want to tell me these things before you bite my head off. It's a bit more productive, don't you think?"

She frowned and crossed her arms. "Well, you know, who offers someone tea at 12:00 at night?"

Hatter rolled his eyes. "It's a perfectly reasonable time, love. I'd take tea at midnight over tea at noon anytime."

"You're batty," she exclaimed.

"I'm batty? You're the one who likes to drink something dubbed 'a cup of Joe'. It doesn't even look like a Joe."

"Hatter, you're madder than a box of frogs."


End file.
